The season's first Lockbox is up. It is somewhat of a work in progress, but we are far enough along to wrestle with the primary question addressed by the Lockbox. Namely, how many spots are truly out there? Or, phrased another way, if I am not sure my team is going to the NCAA tournament, how many slots are really open?
The Bubble by the Numbers
--32 Automatic Bids. That number will not change this season. Black italics means a team is the projected auto-bid for that conference.
--36 At-Large Bids (AL). That is also a static number.
--Currently, 15 AL teams are listed in black. There are no LOCKS at this stage, though there is a short list that clearly are going to go dancing. The black teams are in great shape, but it's still early.
--I have nine other AL teams listed in blue, which means they could conceivable miss, but I'd be very surprised.
--That means 24 AL slots are taken, leaving the Bubble at 12 at the moment. Bubble-IN teams are in green, Bubble-OUT teams are in red.
